I left early. Lest you think the worst, I’ve just done a 500 mile round trip to see a 0-0 draw that was on the telly, and I start work in six hours.
Didn’t mind it at all. Damned unlucky. The injustice of the penalty being awarded and the consequent contestant for worst penalty ever is the sort of thing that might push an ambivalent agnostic like me into believing that there _is _a higher power, and he/she/it _does _interfere in human affairs.
If, as it seems, we are without Gabbiadini again on Wednesday, I reckon we are in for more of the same. When Chelsea scored after 5 minutes yesterday I thought “good. Give Palace a confidence knocking spanking for us please”… what I didn’t legislate for was the next 5 or 6 minutes in that one. I think they’ll come and have a go at us on the counter and unless we take our chances up the other end I fear we’ll get pinched.
So fucking frustrating because these two games on paper looked like the ones to lift us away from the bottom end of the table and ensure we were looking up not down.
Just seven points separate us from Hull which is closer than we are to WBA in 8th. Leicester’s recovery has been ridiculous and now they are only a point behind us.
Anyway, some positives… (sort of)
At times yesterday (not when assaulting Stephens or coming for crosses) Forster actually looked like a goalkeeper again. He made a few saves that I expected him not to make. Not because they were difficult but because he has let them by him all too often this year. He does still hug the post on free kicks though which winds me up. “Mate, you’re 6’ 7”, stand closer to the middle and you’ll be able to move across if necessary." On a side note did anyone notice his shirt number for England was 23 instead of 13 (which Heaton had) as it has been historically? His poor form has clearly knocked him down to third choice in the pecking order.
A clean sheet. More by luck than judgement but a clean sheet none the less.
I’m all out of positives now, sorry.
P.S - when are referees going to give a shit penalty or offside decision our way for once? “It evens itself out over a season”. Does it fuck. Cunts.
I share a belief that there is a higher power - and she definitely interferes with most things and is the boss in most matters.
Probably. Thing is, I _feel _taller, @philippinesaint .
I suppose I’d have to really. How the fuck else would I cope?
The officials were wank yesterday.
Start to finish, that pen has to be in the running for shittest pen ever. God only knows why it was awarded. One can only assume that for one brief moment, the whole of the Northam end resembled a giant onion bag in Harry Arter’s fevered mind.
It was fun, though. Despite the Itchen North’s frequently made assertion that there’s only one South Coast Derby, this wasn’t the visit of Stoke. The atmosphere was at times, electric. There was a great moment when they tried to rile us with “You’ve only got one song” only for us to sing that same song much louder. Besides, we’ve two or three at least.
“When I was just a little boy…” was popular on the terraces yesterday afternoon, if only to ram home the point that we don’t care. I think we do. A little bit. We can’t have those upstarts rummage through the Forest and claim that “The South Coast” is ours, and we didn’t.
We spent much of the game reminding them, not that they needed it, that their team was fucking shit or their support was fucking shit, for once some relatively accurate collective utterances from Itchen North.
Four points off you this year. You got one, Cherries. We’ll have all six next year, but for now, I do believe that makes the South Coast ours.
My personal highlights of the season so far (in order of personal joy and satisfaction);
1/ Shane Long’s goal in the semis.
2/ Arter’s penalty.
3/ Beating Inter Milan.
This was mine
Barry Sanchez posted this 21 hours ago
Redmond’s long range passing and vision has been superb today, top class
I thought I had imagined that to be honest 
This season, the equaliser against Man U n the final and the 30 minutes or so which followed were amazing!
Unfortunately our season excitement ended when that manc player headed the ball into our net in the 89th minute in the final.
The rest of the season, we will stumble over the line now. But I expect us to beat Palace, just. But there is no chance I am looking down the table. We will finish 10th.
I fully expect us to overhaul Stoke and West Brom to finish 8th this year.